No
one can possibly possess the Holy Spirit if he does not regard Christ
as the Lord, much less if he call him accursed. Destroy the
foundation and you destroy all; there will be no God, no Spirit, and
all your claims, teaching and works are naught. You must recognize
and be governed by the fact that either Christ must be received and
believed in as the one true Lord, and praised and glorified as such,
or else he will be cursed; between these alternatives is no medium."

THE SPIRIT, THE TEST OF THE TRUE TEACHER.

It is easy, then, to judge the doctrine of every official teacher of
the Christian Church. No one need resort to faction, no one need gaze
hither and thither in uncertainty and hesitate as to which gift or
which person is most to be regarded. We are to make the doctrine of
this verse the standard and authority as to what and how we preach
concerning Christ. He who speaks by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
certainly will not curse Christ; he will glorify and praise him. So
doing, he surely will not teach error, or give occasion for
divisions. If his teaching is not to the glory of God, you may safely
conclude that he is not true, not inspired by the Holy Spirit.

19. Thus Paul rejects the glorying and boasting of the sects over
their offices and gifts--they who pretend to be filled with the
Spirit and to teach the people correctly, and who make out that Paul
and other teachers are of no consequence. Themselves the chief of
apostles, the people must hear them and accept their baptism. More
than that, they demand a higher attainment in the Spirit for Gospel
ministers, deeming faith, the Sacrament and the outward office not
sufficient.

But Paul says: "Boast as you will about the great measure of the
Spirit you possess, it is certain that the Spirit-inspired teacher
will not curse Christ." In other words, such boasting of the Spirit
will not answer the purpose. What you believe and teach concerning
Christ must receive attention. You are either reproaching and cursing
Jesus, or praising him and owning him your Lord. If your preaching
and teaching fail to point to Christ, something else being offered,
and you nevertheless boast of the Spirit, you are already judged: the
spirit you boast is not the Holy Spirit, not the true Spirit, but a
false one. To it we are not to listen. Rather we are to condemn it to
the abyss of hell, as Paul declares (Gal 1, 8), saying: "But though
we, or an angel from heaven, should pre